Embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems, apparatuses and methods for conducting transactions such as payment transactions and for processing transaction data, and more specifically, to the use of an issuer independent primary account number (PAN) or other form of payment account or device identifier for conducting transactions. Embodiments of the invention implement a payment transaction using a payment account number or payment device identifier which does not include a bank identification number (BIN) or other identifier of the issuer of a payment device. The decoupling of the issuer identifier from the PAN provides a portable and customizable account number that enables greater freedom for consumers and provides the ability to deliver new and improved services to consumers who use payment cards (e.g., credit, debit or prepaid cards) with magnetic stripes or contactless elements embedded in other form factors as payment devices for conducting payment transactions.
Consumer payment devices such payment cards with magnetic stripes, or contactless chips embedded in other devices are used by millions of people worldwide to facilitate various types of commercial transactions. In a typical transaction involving the purchase of a product or service at a merchant location, the payment device is presented at a point of sale terminal (“POS terminal”) located at a merchant's place of business. A consumer may also initiate a payment transaction by providing payment data from a remote location to a merchant over a network such as the Internet. Transactions of this type are typically initiated using a computing device such as a personal computer or laptop computer. Transactions may also be initiated by using a mobile device such as a cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) that communicates with a merchant or service provider directly or indirectly over a wireless network. Transactions in which the consumer is not in the same physical location as a merchant, and hence where a payment device is not physically presented to the merchant, are termed “card not present” (CNP). Further, transactions may also include ones where a merchant or vendor automatically initiates a transaction based on a prior agreement with a customer for charging their payment card an amount at a agreed upon date or frequency. Such transactions may be termed “standing instruction” transactions.
A consumer's payment device is typically identified by, or associated with a string of alphanumeric characters that is unique to each payment device. The string, along with other associated payment transaction data, is submitted to a merchant, accessed from a payment device, or otherwise provided by a consumer when conducting a payment transaction. Typically, the string of characters is in a specified format, with one standard format being that of a bank identification number (BIN) as a prefix to an account identifier. In some cases, the combination of the BIN and the account identifier is termed a “primary account number” or PAN. The PAN may correspond to the number or alphanumeric string embossed on a credit card or debit card, for example. The BIN or its equivalent is a unique identifier for the bank or organization that acted as issuer for the payment device or for the payment account associated with the device. The BIN may be generated or assigned by a payment processing network, card association or network (such as Visa, MasterCard, or American Express), or other form of payment processor. The account identifier is an identifier for the consumer's individual payment account and may be generated by the issuer in accordance with its internal rules or processes. The combination of the BIN and account identifier represents a unique identifier for the consumer's payment account or payment device, and as noted, includes information regarding the issuer of the payment account or payment device.
However, as recognized by the inventor of the present invention, the coupling of the BIN to the account identifier (typically as a prefix to the account identifier) to create a unique PAN does have some disadvantages. For example, a consumer's PAN is typically changed every time they move their payment account to a different issuer, or desire to use a new payment device product provided by the same issuer. In the case of a consumer who has instructed certain merchants or service providers to automatically deduct or charge a specified amount to the consumer's payment account on a regular basis (such as a monthly payment for a loan, etc.), the consumer must notify every such merchant or service provider each time the consumer changes issuers or products offered by the same issuer. This is inconvenient and may lead to errors in which a merchant attempts to charge an amount to, or deduct an amount from, a cancelled or otherwise improper payment account. This situation also creates extra work for the consumer and is an inefficient and wasteful use of data processing resources. Further, the need to use a different combination of BIN and account identifier for each payment device or account increases the data processing and data storage requirements on the payment processing networks used to process payment transactions. The use of a combined BIN and account identifier for payment devices or accounts may also act to limit the types of payment products or combined payment and non-payment products that may be offered by issuers or by other organizations that do not wish to be constrained by the existing system (such as by requiring the involvement of a typical issuer in order to offer the product).
What is desired are a system, apparatus and method for providing consumers and issuers with a payment account or payment device identifier that can be used to conduct payment transactions and which overcomes the noted disadvantages of current methods of identifying such devices or accounts. Embodiments of the invention address these problems and other problems individually and collectively.